Let’s be real: figuring out the right freight shipping method shouldn’t feel like solving a Rubik’s Cube in the dark. But for many businesses, that’s exactly what picking between LTL and FTL feels like. So, let’s break it down.

No jar­gon. No fluff. Just freight facts, sto­ries from the trench­es, and maybe a chuck­le or two.

What Even Is LTL?

LTL stands for Less Than Truck­load. It’s when your ship­ment shares space in a truck with oth­er freight. Pic­ture your box­es cozied up next to some­one else’s pal­lets like strangers on a packed sub­way.

You’re not rent­ing the whole truck. You’re pay­ing for the space you use. Effi­cient? Heck yes. Fast? Well.

And FTL?

FTL is Full Truck­load. It’s all yours, baby. The entire truck. Just your car­go from Point A to Point B, no pit stops for oth­er people’s stuff.

Think of it as char­ter­ing a pri­vate jet instead of fly­ing coach.

LTL vs FTL: The Showdown Begins

This isn’t a Coke vs. Pep­si debate. The dif­fer­ences mat­ter. Let’s dig in.

1. Speed

FTL wins.

No extra stops. No mul­ti­ple drop-offs. The truck rolls out, and your freight is the VIP.

LTL? More like a city bus with lots of pas­sen­gers.

If time is mon­ey (and when isn’t it?), FTL gets the edge.

2. Cost

LTL saves you cash.

You’re not pay­ing for unused truck space. It’s like split­ting the bill at din­ner. Fair, effi­cient, cheap­er.

FTL is a flat fee. You pay for the whole ride, whether your car­go fills it or not. But the cost-per-unit might be worth it if you’re mov­ing a lot.

3. Risk

FTL is safer.

Less han­dling. Few­er stops. Few­er chances your pack­age gets dropped, smashed, or rerout­ed to Boise by mis­take.

LTL sees more hands. More trans­fers. Fork­lifts. More risks.

Your vin­tage vinyl col­lec­tion? Go FTL.

Your bulk ship­ment of pil­low­cas­es? LTL should do.

4. Size & Weight

Here’s the line in the sand:

• Under 15,000 lbs? Prob­a­bly LTL.

• Over 15,000 lbs or 10+ pal­lets? Now we’re talk­ing FTL.

One of our clients once shipped 13,000 lbs via LTL. Saved a few hun­dred bucks. Lost three days and a client who didn’t get their gear on time.

Les­son learned.

Use Case Time: Real People, Real Loads

 Small Business Shipping Office Chairs

You’ve got 6 chairs going to three retail stores across the state. LTL makes sense. You’ll save mon­ey, and deliv­ery win­dows aren’t too tight.

 Distributor Shipping 20 Pallets of Flooring

Go FTL. Don’t play games. You’ll avoid delays and dam­aged goods. That lam­i­nate isn’t for­giv­ing when it cracks.

Amazon Seller on a Budget

LTL wins again. Most sell­ers using FBA  Ful­filled by Ama­zon opt for LTL since it’s cheap­er. You might wait longer, but your mar­gins stay intact.

Wait, What About Hybrid Loads?

Ah yes. The mid­dle child of truck load options. Some­times, freight bro­kers like The Amer­i­can Truck piece togeth­er par­tial loads. These aren’t true LTL or FTL. It’s more of a “let’s get cre­ative” sce­nario.

Use­ful. It’s bud­get-friend­ly. But it’s not always avail­able.

LTL vs FTL: Quick Checklist

Fac­tor	LTL	FTL
Deliv­ery Speed	Slow­er, more stops	Direct, faster
Cost	Low­er if under 10–12 pal­lets	Low­er per-unit for big loads
Han­dling Risk	High­er, more touch­points	Low­er, one-touch han­dling
Ide­al For	Small to medi­um ship­ments	Large, time-sen­si­tive loads
Flex­i­bil­i­ty	High, but longer win­dows	Less flex­i­ble, more con­trol

Fun Fact: The Freight Tetris Game

Some LTL car­ri­ers are basi­cal­ly pro Tetris play­ers. They jug­gle dozens of small ship­ments like magi­cians fit­ting clowns in a Volk­swa­gen.

Ever won­der how your odd­ly shaped ship­ment of neon-col­ored bean­bags made it to Des Moines intact? That’s some seri­ous freight wiz­ardry.

But even the best play­ers drop the ball. Or the pal­let.

The Freight Broker Advantage

You don’t need to know all the ins and outs of truck­load math. That’s what freight bro­kers are for.

At The Amer­i­can Truck, we decode your shipment’s needs and hook you up with the best truck­load option. It’s what we do.

Also, we speak human, not just logis­tics.

Don’t Fall for the Wrong Option

We once had a cus­tomer choose LTL to ship 17 pal­lets of frozen seafood. It was cheap­er on paper. But by the time it arrived—well, let’s just say it smelled like regret.

Some­times sav­ing mon­ey costs you more.

Freight Forecasting: What’s Coming

The U.S. freight scene is shift­ing. Fuel prices. E‑commerce spikes. Dri­ver short­ages. It all affects your options.

Expect LTL to get more crowd­ed. Expect FTL rates to swing like a weath­er vane in Kansas.

Stay­ing nim­ble helps. And talk­ing to real freight experts hey, that’s us doesn’t hurt either.

Final Verdict: LTL vs FTL

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. But there is a best-fit-for-now option.

So ask your­self:

• Is speed my top pri­or­i­ty?

• Am I ship­ping more than 10 pal­lets?

• Can I han­dle some risk in exchange for sav­ings?

Still not sure?

Call your freight bro­ker. Or shoot us a mes­sage. The Amer­i­can Truck won’t steer you wrong.

Check out Inbound Logis­tics. Their resources are worth a book­mark.